3 Methods to Count Carbohydrates - Method2 Measuring Food Without Nutritional Labels

1 Weigh your food item on a food scale. Calculating the total weight of your food item will help you calculate the percentage of carbohydrates. For example, a large apple may weight 200g.

2 Research carbohydrate percentages of your food item. Look up the nutrient listings of your food item online or in a book on nutrition. The USDA has a food composition database that will give you the nutritional information for many different food items. Your doctor or nutritionist may also have pamphlets or brochures to help you research nutritional information for your food item.

3 Subtract the percentage of dietary fiber from the total carbohydrate percentage.If dietary fiber is listed in your nutritional information, subtract that amount from the carbohydrates to calculate the net carbohydrates for that food item. For example, if the food item has 15% carbohydrates and 2% dietary fiber, subtract 2 from 15 to equal 13%.

4 Calculate the percentage of net carbohydrates in your food item. Multiply the total weight of your food item by the percentage of net carbohydrates. For example, if the net carbohydrate percentage for your food is 13% (0.13 in decimal form), multiply the weight (200g) by 0.13 to equal 26g of net carbohydrates.

·         Often, nutritional guides will give you a carbohydrate total that is based on either 100g of the food item. If carbohydrates are listed as the amount per 100g, turn the number into a percentage by multiplying the grams of carbohydrates by 0.01. For example, if your food item has 13 carbohydrates per 100 grams, multiply 13 by 0.01 to equal 0.13 or 13%.